Date of birth: June 15, 1874

Link to Wagga: Wagga Area Officer

Date of enlistment: November 14, 1914

Age at enlistment: 40 years 6 months

Occupation: Area Officer

Religion: Presbyterian

Next of kin: Wife, Mrs Tess Forsythe, Petersham (Sydney)

Battalion or Regiment: 13th Battalion, C Company

Battlefields: Gallipoli

Outcome: Returned to Australia, HS ‘Euripides’, June 24, 1916

WILLIAM Alfred Forsythe, the only son of William and Margaret (née Michael), was destined for a military career.

He was educated at Petersham Public School, where he was dux, before undertaking private tuition with Mr Henry, MA.

He served as a Lieutenant in the Boer War, and before joining the AIF, was Area Officer for Zone 44B (Wagga), a position appointed in 1912.

William joined the AIF as a Lieutenant in the opening months of the War, and was promoted to Captain on December 16, 1914.

A week later, he embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT A38 ‘Ulysses’ with the 13th Battalion, C Company.

On his death, William was remembered as:

“…an excellent company commander – keen, knew his work and had that happy knack of getting the best out of his men… he never got flustered. His one fault, if one could call it a fault, was that he never spared himself, and it was difficult to get him to leave his Post, even during periods of relief… what a good man he was to have at your side in a tight corner. Captain Forsythe was the type of man that made the Thirteenth the great fighting battalion it turned out to be. Quiet and unassuming, but cool and fearless in action… Dependable and reliable were his middle names.”

At the Anzac Day Landing William commanded ‘C’ Company at Quinn’s Post, a particularly ‘hot’ corner of the battlefield.

There he remained (with very short periods of relief) for nearly three weeks.

The whole time, the Turks were continually making attempts to capture this key position.

Under these difficult and trying conditions, William proved himself both reliable and efficient.

William, with his men, held Quinn’s Post until the morning of May 30, 1915.

The day before, he had been complimented on his excellent work by Colonel Granville John Burnage, who informed William that he was sending on a recommendation that he be given his majority.

 Sadly, both men were wounded immediately afterwards.

On May 29, during a fierce Turkish attack on Quinn’s Post, the Colonel’s left elbow was shattered by a bomb blast.

The next day, William sustained a gunshot wound through his right foot, and was repatriated home as a supernumerary after receiving treatment in Malta.

As a result, William never received his promotion.

Returning to Australia in July, 1916, William was reunited with his wife in Sydney.

He was discharged as medically unfit from the AIF on August 23, 1916.

In the census throughout the 1930s, his occupation was listed as a property salesman.

In around 1935, William and his wife left their North Sydney home and relocated to West Wyalong, when William took up the position of Postmaster.

He held the post until his death on November 7, 1938, at the age of 58 years.

He was survived by his wife Tess and a daughter Zelda.